Continental or mainland Europe is the continuous continent of Europe excluding its surrounding islands.[1] It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent—which can conversely mean the whole of Europe—and by Europeans, simply the Continent.

The Scandinavian peninsula is sometimes also excluded, as even though it is technically part of "mainland Europe", the de facto connections to the rest of the continent are across the Baltic Sea or North Sea (rather than via the lengthy land route that involves travelling to the north of the peninsula where it meets Finland, and then south through north-east Europe).

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In both Great Britain and Ireland, the Continent is widely and generally used to refer to the mainland of Europe. An apocryphalBritish newspaper headline supposedly once read, "Fog in Channel; Continent Cut Off".[3] It has also been claimed that this was a regular weather forecast in Britain in the 1930s.[4] In addition, the word Europe itself is also regularly used to mean Europe excluding the islands of Great Britain, Iceland, and Ireland (although the term is often used to refer to the European Union[5]). The term mainland Europe is also sometimes used.

Derivatively, the adjective continental refers to the social practices or fashion of continental Europe. Examples include breakfast, topless sunbathing and, historically, long-range driving (before Britain had motorways) often known as Grand Touring.[citation needed]. Differences include electrical plugs, time zones for the most part, the use of left-hand traffic, and for the United Kingdom, currency and the continued use of imperial units alongside metric.

Britain is physically connected to continental Europe through the undersea Channel Tunnel (the longest undersea tunnel in the world), which accommodates both the Getlink (passenger and vehicle use – vehicle required) and Eurostar (passenger use only) services. These services were established to transport passengers and vehicles through the tunnel on a 24/7 basis between England and continental Europe, while still maintaining passport and immigration control measures on both sides of the tunnel. This route is popular with refugees and migrants seeking to enter the UK.[6]